Bittersweet Remembrance
by Morphimal
Summary: This is a family fic set in the past. It was written a few years ago, but I'm just now posting it to FFnet. Please let me know what you think!


Disclaimer: Jonny Quest and all related characters are property of HannaBarbera...I think. I just know they aren't mine.

A.N.:------------scene change, >>>>>>>> time change

Bittersweet Remembrance

In a two-story New Mexico ranch house, a red-headed 12 year old stomps madly from his room in search of his 11 year old foster sister. When he reaches her room, he attempts to open the door and discovers it's locked.

That's funny, he thought. I thought Doug told her she was too young to lock her door. Frustration adding to his fury, the foster child began to bang on the door.

"Ray! Open this door right now, we gotta talk," he yelled through the door. "This is it, Ray! I've told you time and time again not to dig in my stuff, and you still do!" As he continues to bang on the door, it suddenly opens a fraction, allowing a small blonde head to poke out. The young girl's blue eyes held a sparkle of mischief as they glared into the brown eyes that burned with anger.

"You ain't got no proof that I did any such thing, Benny!" she shouted from her partially open door. Benny winced at her yelling so close to him, then decided to one-up her by getting even louder.

"No proof! Ray, you left stuff from my binder scattered all over the floor of my room! And, no, the dog did not do it because that binder was in my bookbag on the top shelf of my desk!" Ray, realizing her mistake, turned a bright red and bit her lip in thought.

"Well, umm...uh..." Quickly her embarrassment turned to anger. "Well, what do you matter, anyway! You can't do anything to me! You aren't really my brother! You're just the kid that Momma agreed to take care of when she signed up for that stupid program! And the reason you were in the program in the first place is 'cause your own daddy don't want ya', so there!" she screamed and slammed the door in his face. Benny's face turned beet red as he cast his eyes to the floor, blinking to hold back the tears of hurt her sharp words had caused him. He turned to walk away then spun around and kicked the door.

"That ain't true!" he yelled, wiping his nose to stop from sniffling. He couldn't let her see that she'd hurt him. "You know it ain't! Papa comes visit as often as he can, and he bringsgifts whenever he can afford it! He's just been too poor to take good care of me since Momma...since Momma..." As his tears choked his throat, he turned and ran, screaming, "Oh, what do you know!"

The kitchen screen door slammed shut, and the blonde head once again poked out of her door, blue eyes filled with regret and remorse.

------------------------------------------------------------

In the horse barn not far from the house, Doug Wildey hung up the barn phone with a weary sigh. As he rubbed his eyes and thought of how the boy would react to this news, he heard someone sniffling in one of the stalls. His heart dropped at the thought that the boy might have overheard the conversation. Striding swiftly to the stall that held Emily, the new mare, Doug leaned over the stall door. His eyes softened at the sight of Benny's tear-streaked face.

"Benny?" he said softly. "Is everything alright?" he asked tentatively, hoping that the boy hadn't heard the phone conversation. Benny shook his head, but never took his eyes off Emily. He was stroking the brown skin of her neck, and when his tears starting rolling again, he buried his face in the mare's dark brown mane. Opening the stall door, Doug stepped in and put his hands on the small boy's shoulders. "What happened, Benny?"

"Her skin reminds me of Momma's hair," came the soft reply. Doug smiled tenderly.

"I know. That's why we let you name the mare after her, remember?" Benny nodded. Kneeling down, Doug gently coaxed Benny to turn around and face him. "Tell me what happened, son." Benny wiped violently at his eyes.

"It's Ray. She's so mean!" he said through sniffles. Doug sighed.

"What'd she do this time?" That daughter of his could be nothing but trouble sometimes. He rubbed Benny's small shoulders as the boy's eyes fell to the floor.

"She said Papa doesn't want me," Benny said as the tears welled up again. Doug felt a pang of guilt at the reply. He pulled the boy into his arms and hugged him tightly as the tears came pouring down. He was going to give that girl the whooping of a lifetime for doing this, especially on a day like today. He closed his eyes and squeezed the boy tightly.

--------------------------------------------------

Just at sundown, Ray heard the kitchen door open from her seat in the big chair in the living room. She put down the remote and looked up as her father came in carrying a very tired and highly upset Benny.

"Dinner is in 15 minutes," Doug said as he set Benny on the couch. Kneeling down in front of Benny, he said, "If you want, you can eat dinner in here tonight. You've had a rough day and deserve a rest, OK?" Benny nodded, his face downcast but otherwise emotionless. Doug stood up and turned to Ray, his eyelids lowering into a glare. "And you, young lady, will wash up and be at the table as usual. Afterwards, you and I are going up to your room to have a little talk, understand?" Ray nodded, her eyes wide with fear, and sunk into the chair to pull away from her daddy's 'mad eyes'. When Doug left to help get the kitchen ready, Ray slid down off the over-stuffed chair and went sit beside Benny. She watched him carefully as he pulled his knees up and crossed his arms over them.

"Papa called," he said out of the blue. Ray blinked before asking,

"Did you get to talk to him?"

"No, but Doug did," he replied, taking deep breaths to try and keep the tears from falling again. In the end he buried his face in his arms as he said, "You were right. He doesn't want me." He wasn't sobbing like earlier, but his voice broke constantly while he spoke. Ray shook her head in confusion and sudden fear.

"That's not true. You said it yourself, he visits all the time." She searched her mind frantically to try and figure out why he would say that. Slowly and softly she said, "I know what I said earlier was wrong, and I'm sorry. I just-"

"You don't understand, Ray," he interrupted her. "When Doug spoke to him on the phone earlier, Papa said he wouldn't be coming visit anymore." Ray felt her heart drop. "D-doug tried to tell me th...that Papa just couldn't afford the travel expenses anymore, but I know the truth. He doesn't want me. He never wanted me." As the words sunk in, Ray felt tears sting her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Benny."

"Yeah, what for? You were right! I'm just the boy no one wants-"

"That's not true!" she nearly shouted. He looked up, and she felt her face redden. "I...I never said no one wants you." Her face softened as she wiped away her tears. "And I'm sorry for what I did say. I didn't mean to hurt you, I just got so angry..." she trailed off. Slowly, she slid over and put her arm around Benny's shoulder. "We've been friends since you got here, Benny, and the last thing I'd want to do is hurt you. And I think Daddy's right about your daddy. He was always poor, you know that. Maybe he just can't spare the  
money anymore." They sat in silence for a moment, Ray's arm around his shoulders, while Benny thought about what she said.

"Would you?" he asked quietly. Ray's mind took in the question and she tilted her head to the side. Looking into Benny's brown eyes, she smiled and tightened her arm on his shoulders.

"In a heartbeat, Buddy. In a heartbeat."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

In the living room of the Quest compound, Benton Quest opened his eyes and smiled at the portrait of his wife hanging over the fire place. He wiped away the tears of the past, letting the pain of that memory wash over him while the more recent pain pushed forward. Shaking his head, he concentrated on the good memories. His late wife, Rachel Wildey Quest, had been his best friend for as long as he could remember. She was always there for him to lean on when times got off, and he had done much the same for her particularly when her mother died of cancer while they were both in college. Sighing, he wiped his eyes again, took one last look at his wife's sapphire blue eyes, stood up, and headed to the kitchen to get a drink while he finished reading the most recent scientific journal he'd received. As he passed the stairs leading up to the main bedrooms of the compound, he heard someone's door slam before the person stomped across the hall. Looking up, he saw as his 16 year old son Jonny began banging on one of his best friend's door.

"Jessie!" he heard the boy yell. "Open the door, we gotta talk! You've been digging through my laptop files looking for my journal again, and don't try to deny it!" As an all-too-familiar argumentensued, Benton shook his head and walked into the kitchen, smiling all the while at the bittersweet memories.

* * *

Please review! 


End file.
